Book report - girls' minstry 101

On the back cover of the book “girls' ministry 101” by Whitney Prosperi 3 facts are shared:
1) Chances are that girls make up half or more of your youth group
2) Ministering to girls presents unique challenges and opportunities.
3) Because of facts 1&2, you need girl’s ministry 101

I’m not sure I could say we need this book but it certainly stood out to me when the first two facts are true of our middle school ministry here at NCBC and one of the main reasons I picked up this book.

My hope was that this book would give me some ideas to put into a job description that we are developing here for a female youth director. We don’t have any plans to actually hire someone but it will happen and when it does I want to have a clear job description ready to present to our church.

A number of things stood out to me but to stay within the guidelines I have put in place with my book reviews I will stick to two key things that stood out to me:

The first thing was right at the beginning of the book. Mrs. Prosperi shares a great list of the benefits of having a girl’s focused ministry:
- Girls have someone to talk to.
- A girls’ minister offers female perspective in planning youth events.
- Having a girl’s minister provides protection for male leadership.
- A girls’ minister can plan girl-only events.
- Discipleship – a girls’ minister can lead all-girl Bible studies and small groups.
- A girls’ minister is a role model to the girls.
I really like lists. I would add to this list – a girls' minister can discipline girls a lot more effectively and meaningfully than their male counter parts.

Another thing that really stood out to me was a key statement a friend of Mrs. Prosperi shared with her. “If you want to be there in the bad times in students’ lives, you have to be there in the fun times first.” I call these fun times “remember when moments…” and they are critical for any ministry to any gender and age.

“girls’ ministry 101” is a great resource for me to turn to when the time comes to hire a female shepherd for our ministry. But until then it will be a book I will suggest to my female sponsors to read and use to create a more comfortable and effect ministry to our young ladies.